Bill Start

An act to amend Section 422.56 of, and to add Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 422.87) to Title 11.6 of Part 1 of, the Penal Code, relating to hate crimes.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 1985, as amended, Ting.
Hate crimes: law enforcement policies.

Existing law defines a “hate crime” as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of actual or perceived characteristics of the victim, including, among other things, race, religion, disability, and sexual orientation. Existing law requires the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to develop guidelines for instruction and training of law enforcement officers addressing hate crimes. Existing law requires state law enforcement agencies to adopt a framework or other formal policy on hate crimes created by POST.

This bill would clarify that a disability is protected under the law regardless of whether it is temporary, permanent, congenital, or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness. The bill would also require any local law enforcement agency that updates an existing hate crime policy or
adopts a new hate crime policy to include, among other things, the model policy framework developed by POST and information regarding bias motivation. The bill would allow a local law enforcement agency that updates an existing hate crime policy or adopts a new hate crime policy to include any of the provisions of a model hate crime policy and other relevant documents developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Digest Key

Vote:
MAJORITY
Appropriation:
NO
Fiscal Committee:
NO
Local Program:
NO

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) The 2015 2016 “Hate Crime in California” report by the Attorney General found that from 2014 to 2015, 2015 to 2016, hate crime events increased by 10.4
11.2 percent and violent hate crime offenses increased by 11.3 5.5 percent in the same year.

(b) There are 79 hate groups in California, mostly in the San Francisco Bay, Sacramento, and Los Angeles areas.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature to protect the people of California by updating and upgrading enforcement of hate crime laws and by standardizing procedures in law enforcement agencies throughout the state.

SEC. 2.

Section 422.56 of the Penal Code is amended to read:

422.56.

For purposes of this title, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) “Association with a person or group with these actual or perceived characteristics” includes advocacy for, identification with, or being on the ground owned or rented by, or adjacent to, any of the following: a community center, educational facility, family, individual, office, meeting hall, place of worship, private institution, public agency, library, or other entity, group, or person that has, or is identified with people who have, one or more of those characteristics listed in the definition of “hate crime” under paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section 422.55.

(b) “Disability” includes mental disability and physical disability as defined in Section 12926 of the Government Code regardless of whether those disabilities are temporary, permanent, congenital, or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness. This definition is declaratory of existing law.

(c) “Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender expression. “Gender expression” means a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.

(d) “In whole or in part because of” means that the bias motivation must be a cause in fact of the offense, whether or not other
causes also exist. When multiple concurrent motives exist, the prohibited bias must be a substantial factor in bringing about the particular result. There is no requirement that the bias be a main factor, or that the crime would not have been committed but for the actual or perceived characteristic. This subdivision does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, existing law under In re M.S. (1995) 10 Cal.4th 698 and People v. Superior Court (Aishman) (1995) 10 Cal.4th 735.

(e) “Nationality” includes citizenship, country of origin, and national origin.

(f) “Race or ethnicity” includes ancestry, color, and ethnic background.

(g) “Religion” includes all aspects of religious belief, observance, and practice and
includes agnosticism and atheism.

(i) “Victim” includes, but is not limited to, a community center, educational facility, entity, family, group, individual, office, meeting hall, person, place of worship, private institution, public agency, library, or other victim or intended victim of the offense.

SEC. 3.

Chapter 2.5 (commencing with Section 422.87) is added to Title 11.6 of Part 1 of the Penal Code, to read:

CHAPTER
2.5. Law Enforcement Agency Policies

422.87.

(a) Each local law enforcement agency may adopt a hate crimes policy. Any local law enforcement agency that updates an existing hate crimes policy or adopts a new hate crimes policy shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) The definitions in Sections 422.55 and 422.56.

(2) The content of the model policy framework that the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training developed pursuant to Section 13519.6, and any content that the commission may revise or add in the future, including any policy, definitions, response and reporting responsibilities, training resources, and planning
and prevention methods.

(3) (A) Information regarding bias motivation.

(B) For the purposes of this paragraph, “bias motivation” is a preexisting negative attitude toward actual or perceived characteristics referenced in Section 422.55. Depending on the circumstances of each case, bias motivation may include, but is not limited to, hatred, animosity, resentment, revulsion, contempt, unreasonable fear, paranoia, callousness, thrill-seeking, desire for social dominance, desire for social bonding with those of one’s “own kind,” or a perception of the vulnerability of the victim due to the victim being perceived as being weak, worthless, or fair game because of a protected characteristic, including, but not limited to, disability or gender.

(C) (i) In recognizing suspected disability-bias hate crimes, the policy shall advise officers to consider whether there is any indication that the perpetrator was motivated by hostility or other bias, occasioned by factors such as, but not limited to, dislike of persons who arouse fear or guilt, a perception that persons with disabilities are inferior and therefore “deserving victims,” a fear of persons whose visible traits are perceived as being disturbing to others, or resentment of those who need, demand, or receive alternative educational, physical, or social accommodations.

(ii) In recognizing suspected disability-bias hate crimes, the policy also shall advise officers to consider whether there is any indication that the perpetrator perceived the victim
to be vulnerable and, if so, if this perception is grounded, in whole or in part, in antidisability bias. This includes, but is not limited to, if a perpetrator targets a person with a particular perceived disability while avoiding other vulnerable-appearing persons such as inebriated persons or persons with perceived disabilities different than those of the victim, those circumstances could be evidence that the perpetrator’s motivations included bias against persons with the perceived disability of the victim and that the crime must be reported as a suspected hate crime and not a mere crime of opportunity.

(4) Information regarding the general underreporting of hate crimes and the more extreme underreporting of antidisability and antigender hate crimes and a plan for the agency to remedy this underreporting.

(5) A protocol for reporting suspected hate crimes to the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 13023.

(6) A checklist of first responder responsibilities, including, but not limited to, being sensitive to effects of the crime on the victim, determining whether any additional resources are needed on the scene to assist the victim or whether to refer the victim to appropriate community and legal services, and giving the victims and any interested persons the agency’s hate crimes brochure, as required by Section 422.92.

(7) A specific procedure for transmitting and periodically retransmitting the policy and any related orders to all officers, including a simple and immediate way for officers to access the policy in the
field when needed.

(8) The title or titles of the officer or officers responsible for assuring that the department has a hate crime brochure as required by Section 422.92 and ensuring that all officers are trained to distribute the brochure to all suspected hate crime victims and all other interested persons.

(9) A requirement that all officers be familiar with the policy and carry out the policy at all times unless directed by the chief, sheriff, director, or other chief executive of the law enforcement agency or other command-level officer to whom the chief executive officer formally delegates this responsibility.

(b) Any local law enforcement agency that updates an existing hate crimes policy or adopts a new hate crimes
policy may include any of the provisions of a model hate crime policy and other relevant documents developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police that are relevant to California and consistent with this chapter.